The key to Effective Wildlife Management: the Human Dimension

Over the last several decades, wildlife managers in Europe and North America have witnessed significant changes in both how people value wildlife species as well as how wildlife management is conducted. Many indigenous and aboriginal groups have long attributed spiritual or intrinsic value to wildlife species. In modern times, however, many animals were valued mainly for consumptive uses such as providing food, clothing, tools, and hides which were used to build shelters.

Logo of the Beverly and Qamanirjuaq Caribou Management Board

More recently, the ecosystem function of many species has also been emphasized. For example, the normal activities of European bison (bison bonasus) such as grazing, trampling the soil, and spreading manure have been found to have a significant impact on the surrounding environment and the health of the ecosystem. These benefits, especially as they relate to large herbivores and carnivores have been strongly promoted and supported by the work of organizations such as the Large Carnivore Initiative for Europe (LCIE) and the Large Herbivore Network (LHNet).

A new paradigm: focus on human dimensions of wildlife management

Within the last few decades, the field of wildlife management has also changed considerably. Beginning in the 1960s wildlife management moved into a new paradigm focused on the human dimensions of wildlife management. Before the 1960s little attention was given to the views of people concerned or affected by wildlife management efforts and managers instead focused on developing and enforcing restrictive wildlife harvesting regulations and modifying the natural environment to help conserve game animals.

Today, however, wildlife managers all over the world acknowledge that efforts to conserve wildlife species must begin with people. Therefore managers must understand these people and their relationships to wildlife. The field of Human Dimensions of Wildlife Management (HDWM) can help facilitate this understanding by helping managers learn about the attitudes, beliefs, levels of support or opposition, and demographic characteristics of publics and interest groups associated with resource and wildlife management efforts.

Trained practitioners

The work of practitioners trained in HDWM is wide ranging but has been organized into the following five categories by HDWM expert and LHNet expert, Dr. Alistair Bath:

1. Baseline assessment to begin attitudinal and belief monitoring - has an educational effort, management policy, made a difference?
2. Educational role - targeting specific weaknesses in knowledge to affect attitudes. Working toward designing more effective educational materials.
3. Building partnerships - bringing groups together around a common data set. Working toward understanding the issues of a variety of interest groups, building trust, and initiating the first steps toward working together.
4. Identification of areas of support and disagreement over management options, thus assessing the feasibility of approaches being successfully implemented.
5. Identification of types of conflict (cognitive, values, costs/benefits, and behavioural conflicts) - the first step toward conflict resolution.
   

   Local people

Public involvement techniques

To gather human dimensions information from affected interest groups and members of the general public, HDWM practitioners utilize a range of public involvement techniques including interviews, focus groups, questionnaires and facilitated workshops. These techniques are also used to help identify common ground between interest groups which may have significantly different values and concerns. Human Dimensions practitioners also often work with wildlife managers to help integrate human dimensions information with more traditional biology-focused wildlife management approaches to create management strategies that are both effective and conscious of the concerns and opinions of associated interest groups.

Incorporate human dimensions in management efforts

It is essential to incorporate human dimensions information into management efforts. Unfounded assumptions about the positions of the public and interest groups can result in unsupported decisions, which may contribute to public opposition to nature and wildlife conservation efforts. With accurate information about beliefs and attitudes, however, managers and interest groups who are willing can more effectively work toward common goals. These may include consensus on a decision, the preparation of a mutually acceptable management plan, or simply, greater knowledge levels concerning the matter in question.

Practical Experiences

The Human Dimensions of Bison restoration in Germany

Human Dimensions of Wildlife Management research associated with the reintroduction of European bison (Bison bonasus) in Germany’s Rothaargebirge area exemplifies the utility of this area of research. Findings from the Rothaargebirge study:

• revealed the importance of fear in shaping attitudes toward European bison,
• identified significant regional differences in support for the restoration effort,
• documented bison-related knowledge levels which can be used to design targeted information materials.

Restoration managers in the Rothaargebirge area continue to apply this and other Human Dimensions - related information in their efforts to restore free-ranging bison to Germany. To get access download the full article pertaining to this research.

Human Dimensions Workshop in Overveen, Netherlands

On October 13th, 2009 Dutch’s Provinciaal Waterleidingbedrijf Noord-Holland (PWN) and the Large Herbivore Foundation (LHF, now LHNet) hosted the first workshop in a number of years to focus on the Human Dimensions of large herbivore restoration and management. The workshop, which was held in Overveen, Netherlands at the edge of the Kraansvlak dunes, was attended by more than 30 people from the Netherlands and several other countries.

Following presentations by project leaders and other experts in the area of large herbivore restoration and management and an excursion to the PWN’s 200 ha European bison enclosure, a facilitated workshop session was held. In this workshop, participants worked together to identify, discuss and evaluate human dimensions challenges and opportunities facing European bison restoration and management in the Netherlands and elsewhere.

Such human dimensions-focused information sharing and work shopping sessions are important for those wishing to build partnerships between groups and to implement wildlife management strategies that are conscious of the human dimensions associated with their efforts. Download the full workshop report, written by Stephen Decker. 

Thank you!

Stephen Decker, LHNet's expert on HDWM,  was so kind as to write the text of this webpage.